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Weekly movement aims to stop violence in Winnipeg's North End

Dozens of people in Winnipeg's North End celebrate 1st birthday of Meet Me at the Bell Tower, a weekly community gathering. 1:12

A community movement in Winnipeg's North End, bringing people together at the neighbourhood bell tower to demand an end to violence, is celebrating its first birthday.

Meet Me at the Bell Tower is a weekly event that aims to make the North End, which has been known for poverty, crime and violence, a better and safer place to live.

Every Friday night, people of all ages — including a growing number of young people — gather at the bell tower on Selkirk Avenue and Powers Street to discuss neighbourhood issues and figure out ways to combat crime in the area.

Dozens of people came to the bell tower on Friday evening to celebrate the movement's first anniversary.

"I know that the sense of camaraderie and the sense of looking out for your neighbour is up 110 per cent since this time last year," Michael Champagne, one of the movement's organizers, told CBC News.

"It's only going to continue to get bigger because the kids that are participating are getting younger and younger and younger."